CHOULO19

Morata dispossess Varane, ref gives nothing. 5 seconds later Varane fouls Morata in the box, ref decides to go back and give a foul so he does not have to make a call about the obvious pen. Take a bow Martin Atkinson

Yeah. He even played the pass into Drogba for that give and go with Frank in the goal.

True, but I can't remember how regularly he played under Grant so it may have been him too. Jose was the first to play him in DM, though.

Check this tweet and all the replies to it for extracts from a report by the Israeli Breaking the Silence group with testimonies from 60 soldiers who participated in the last assault on Gaza: Not surprising but pretty revealing.

Anyone got MOTD highlights?

Alright, reign it in you sexually deprived teenagers!

So that's the answer! We've been arguing about Jose moving him to defensive midfield all those years and in the end he turns out to be a natural right winger!!

@Barbara, sweetie I love you, but that was a bit more than just an article. I think my whole Masters thesis was shorter than that! One thing to add about the 'weak' league, yes, it's undeniable that the top English teams are not as strong as they used to be but the toughness of the league is exactly in what Palace showed today: Even the small teams can give any one an incredible hard match and win points off them...even when they don't need points like today! Apart from Swansea maybe, there literally was not a single match that was won easily. Each and every match could have ended with the opposite result but it takes the extra effort from the players and the manager to get the results your way.

Celebrates not just like a player, but like a proper Chelsea fan. Also: John Terry: "#Chelsea is what I live for. I've been the ball boy, the mascot, I've painted the stadium. I've done everything." :')

Best reaction I've read so far:

I don't follow Spanish football at all, but I've heard of this before. I've even heard that he and Messi have issues as well. From what little I've seen of him, I don't like Pep. He strikes me as someone who isn't particularly honest and genuine, not with what he says but with him emotions and intentions for other people. Jose might lie to the media when he feels necessary, but you can always tell that his feelings for his players, fans..etc. are always genuine.

Much bigger 'slap' for Pep. Was surprised when I head him say that.

Really surprised no one has mentioned Petr. Think he's easily one of the most handsome.

Trying too hard...it's not pretty..

Any news?

@Stingray, I'm dissapointed, I expected A LOT more "let's party" .GIFs!

Rami injured in warm-up. That's not a very good sign. Cuadrado starts in his place. I'm going to keep the faith and put Juan as the first scorer in my prediction!

I know there's no 'wrong' way to win a title but that sounds awful and joyless. I want us to win it ourselves with our players on the pitch.

Dunno why but I'm very nervous about this one. Stomach in knots even though I know that the league is already won even if we lose today

Recently (finally) opened a Facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/nour.ezzeddine.10 Feel free to add me

All very nice but does not give a viable plan how peaceful protest can make actual change in the US. I think I have failed to communicate this to you properly so let me try again: We are (or at least I am) arguing with you because when you repeat the media rhetoric about the violence you are (advertently or otherwise) discrediting the people protesting for their lives and distracting from the main issue. The violence while regrettable and again must be punished, should NOT take away from the validity of the claims by the protesters. It should not even be mentioned in the same breath as the reason for the protesting because it is a completely minor issue in comparison to the civil rights of minorities. The amount of discussion it is getting is beyond ridiculous while almost no talk is going into the main issue: The fact that the US was built on slavery and that the resulting racism has not been truly addressed and amended for over four centuries. One of the main tools of oppression throughout history is the dehumanization of those oppressed by the powerful. Because the 'unpeople' cannot be equals of humans and have the same rights. Terms such as "Thugs", "Savages", "Backward societies", "Hip-hop culture"...etc. are tools of oppression.

JT

Because the situation does not allow for it to happen? The systematic racism in the US goes too deep and the system is too powerful, it cannot be changed peacefully, imo. There were more than two weeks of peaceful demonstrations after Fredie Gray's injuries and until his death, how much did you hear about it? Did any major new network in the US even mention it? I know about it because I watch Democracy Now, the vast majority of US citizens who watch CNN or Fox and the vast numbers who don't watch the news at all knew nothing about it. There are literally tens of peaceful demonstrations all over the US every single day and it is the exception to the rule when they actually manage to achieve something. From memory, the only achievement by peaceful protesters in the US in the past year was probably stopping an Israeli ship from docking in Michigan during the assault in Gaza. That's about it. Peaceful protests usually go without notice, at most a few people are arrested if they attempt to close down a road or block the entrance of a company. Uprisings achieve things because it scares the people in power about their power actually being shared with the majority. Already this "violent" uprising has already managed to get the cops who killed Fredie Gray charged with homicide which would not have happened otherwise and did not happen in various similar cases even this past year. Again as far as uprisings go, this one is very peaceful. And if it manages to get police brutality against minorities even by 10-20% I'd very impressed and the dozen cars burnt would a very small price. Funnily enough, I came across this comic today which perfectly fits this discussion:

Yes, he can be an idiot, but call me biased, I genuinely believe JT is a great person and not because he's Chelsea captain. There is plenty of evidence to support that. From his charity work, most of which he does without any publicity, to his general attitude towards youth players and his incredible support for all of them, to his defending of his teammates to all the things he does for the fans and how he genuinely cares about them and the club. Things he does not need to do but he does them because he wants to. He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but to me he's a great man